Coin-controlled unit for slot machines



Jan. 1, 1952 c, FROST 2,580,906

COIN CONTROLLED UNIT FOR SLOT MACHINES Filed Feb. 3, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l JNVENTOR. CLARENCE M. FROST BY a AT ORNEYS Jan. 1, 1952 C. M. FROST COIN CONTROLLED UNIT FOR SLOT MACHINE Filed Feb. 3, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.

INVENTOR/ CLARENCE M. FROST ATTORNEYS Jan. 1, 1952 Filed Feb. 3, 1947 C. M. FROST COIN CONTROLLED UNIT FOR SLOT MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG..I4

78K 64" i "g; 66

.L IL

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Jam-1, 1 952 COlN-CONTROLLED UNIT FOR SLOT MACHINES ClarenceM. Frost, Milton, Mass., assignor to Frost Vending Machine 00., Milton,- Mass.,' a corporation of Massachusetts I 1 7 Application February 3, 1947,: Serial No. 626,055

2 Claims- (01494-97) The present invention relates to coin-controlled units for a slot machine and is more particularly concerned with devices for accepting ood coins and rejecting slugs. v

The object of the present invention is'toprovide a coin-controlled device which is sensitive to size and weight within tolerable limits, and is also capable of discriminating between a milled and a smooth edge. A subsidiary object is to provide an improved magnetic arrangementfor rejection of slugs of magnetic material.

With these objects in vie'w the present invention comprises the coin -controlled unit hereinafter described and particularly definedin the claims. a I H In the accompanying drawings, Fig.1 is a side view of the preferred unit according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a view of the opposite side; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but with the side plateremoved to show the interior arrangement of the parts; Fig. 4 is a section of line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a section of line 5-5 of Fig. 3; Figs. 6-11 are diagra'ms'illus trating the operation of the device upon introduction of a good coin; Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate the rejection of a slug; Fig. 14 is a sectional detail view taken on line l4--l4 of Fig. '3; Fig. 15 is a section of line l5l5 of Fig. 3 showing the magnet arrangement and Fig.'16 is a detailed plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 15.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises two side plates 28 and 22 separated by a distance somewhat greater than the thickness of a coin to be handled. Ifhe spacing is determined by the thicknessiof certain coin chutes to be presently described.

As shown in Fig. 3 the unit is provided at the top with a coin direction chute 24 having a curved surface into which a coin is"introduced. The end of the chute 24 terminates adjacent to a window'26 which is cut in'the side plate 22 for purposes of rejection of magnetic slugs as will be hereinafter described. As shown in Fig.5 the chute'2 ,4"is beveled slightly so that a coin is nor--- mally held against the side plate in order that agood coin will have notendency tobe deflected through the window 26.

The coin, after following the chute 24, falls on a pivoted chute 28.. The chute is pivoted at 30. in a sensitive low friction bearing 32 asindicated in Fig. 4. The chute 28- has a concave surface-34 and at its free endvis provided with chute 28;res'ts on a shoulder 42 formed in a's'pacin plate'44. Theleft hand end of thechute as viewed in Fig. 3' faces a plate 46, the surfae of which forms a continuation of the chute 28.

' The corner 4'l'of the plate 46 is important as will be explained later. This upper surface of the plate 46 leads to a rejection or by-p'ass opening 48. g

It will be observedfthat a shoulder 50 is'provided in "the under surface of theinitial chute 24. This shoulder provides a corner serving as astop fora coin. j

A stationary chute 52 extends from'left to right below the chute '28 to receive an acceptable coin from 28 and to discharge it onto a pivoted chute 54 which is siniilarin 'form to the chute 28. The chute 54 is pivoted at 56 and is provided with a weight 58 which normally holds the right hand end of the chute against a shoulder 60 on the plate 44. The weight 58 is mounted on a rod 62 which, extends through a suitable opening in the side plate20. [A similar opening 64 is formed in the opposite side plate 22. Through this latter opening extends a rod or bar 66, the end of which engages ,a part of the chute v54. When the chute is tilted by a coin, the bar 66 is free to. move to the left as indicatedin Fig. 14. 7

Opposite the end of thechute 54 is a stop pin 68 against which the coin is ultimately stopped. As shownin Fig. 14, the 'pin 68 is mounted ina bracket 10 and is urged by a spring 12 away from its stop position. The pin is held in the stop position against the action of the s ring by a suitable member indicated at 14, arranged so that, upon operation of the delivery mechanism", the pin will be retracted to permit the coin 'to drop into a suitab e receptacle.

The operation of the unit, as thus far described, is illustrated by Figs. 6 to 11. These figures illustrate the operation of the device upon thepassage of agood coin v p As shown in Fig. 6, a coin, which may be a quarterv dollar, is introducedinto the slot between the plates 20 and 22 immediately "above the'chute 24. As it drops off the right hand end of the chute 24, it falls on the right hand end of the chute 28. From there itpasses, as indicated in Fig. '7, until it is momentarily stopped by the shoulder 50 on the under side of the plate 24, as indicated at-A in Fig. 7. From the point A the further course of the coin depends on whether it i858, good coin or a bad one. In the case of a good coin, particularly if it has a milled edge, it will pass successively through the positions indicated in Figs. 8 to 10, whereas if it is a bad coin, it will be rejected through the window 48 as indicated in Figs. 12 and 13. The action of the mechanism in discriminating between a good and a bad coin is rather complicated. To facilitate the description of these operations, attention is '"first directed to the balance of the pivoted chute 28.

The chute is so counterweighted by the weight 48 that a coin of approximately normal size and weight has a balance point near the. position A of Fig. 7. For convenience, the balance point is indicated by position W for a coin of full size and normal weight. This means that a coin of such size and weight in the position W will statically balance the weight 45). It will be noted that position W is only slightly inbaekoi the stop position A. For a coin of less weight, the

.cepted by the mechanism. In such a case, its

I stop position A is too far to the left and upon slight depression of the chute 28, the coin is free to roll and therefore, rolls over the corner 4'! before the inertia of'the weight 49 has been sufficiently overcome to depress the chute into the position of Fig. 8. A coin of the right diameter but too light has a balance point to the left of the position 'W of Fig. 7. Hence, the stop position balance position would be nearer the point A. It

is contemplated, however, that a coin or slug of the lightest weight which the machine would be expectedto receive, would have a balance point in back of position A; mother words, any coin or slug which the machine would receive, would still be capable of statically overoalancing the weight 40.

A coin of .full size and weight will strike the shoulder 50 and be stopped momentarily in position A. .Since this is beyond the balance ,point Wflthe chute 2-8 will tilt. ,In.l "ig.3 the chute is shown in partially tilted position. During the tilt the coin has moved to positionB. The former stop position on the chuteis indicated by the letter .A. It will be seen that, between the conditions of Figs. 1 and 8, the coin has rolled down the chute from former position A toposition B. Furthermore, the coin has moved downwardly and .thechute has swung about its pivot. In swinging about the pivot the moment of inertia of the chutehas to be taken-.in't'o accoult. The weight 40 must have accelerated sufficiently to carry the chute into the position of Fig. 8 while the coin has rolled down the chute from its ,posi-' .tion of rest at .A to its new position B. If the chute has swungiar enough, asis the case shown in'Fig. 8, theleit hand .end of the chute will have been depressed sufficiently so that the .coin will not roll over the corner 41. This is the case of agood coin which is accepted by the mechanism.

"From the position of Fig. .8, since 'the chute is overba'lanced, the coin drops through and falls on the stationary .chu'te 52. 'It rolls down the chute .52 .and drops on the chute 54,, finally completing its motion against the stoppin .63 as indicated in .10. At this timethechute 5, is tilted but the coin is held against vthe stop.

As a result. of the tilting of the chute. the release bar 63 is now free, As shown in Fig. Mathis bar may now bepushed to. the left, thereby operating the delivery mechanism. The delivery mechanism is not described in detail herein but it may take any suitable form. As shown in Fig. 14, a manually operated plunger 16 is provided. This plunger hasaiportion en aging an inclined surface'ls on the release bar. Thus, upon tilting of the chute '54 into position at Fig. '10, the plunger'lfi may be'pushed inwardly. The side wise "motion of the bar '66 may be'utilized to deliver the tended "goods.

The same motion of the plunger may be utilized to release the coin so that itmay drop into a suitable receptacle. Thus, as shown in Fig. 14, the plunger has an extension 80 which is ranged to hold thepin in"stop position. When the plunger is pushed in, the :pin 68 is retracted by the spring 12. The coin then falls off the A is .so close to the balance position, that the weight 40 is not quickly overbalanced. The chute depresses relatively slowly and the coinhas time toride over the corner 41 before the chuteihas been depressed tosucha position as is manne inFig.8. "'Q

It has been stated heretoforethatlthe present invention has the efiect'oi discriminating be: tween a good coin anda bad coin by detection of. the milled edge. .It will be seen from Figs. land 8 that the corner 5i] tends to engage ina notch of the milled edge of the coin. Because of that and also because of the. frictional engagement of the milled edge against the surface of the chute 28, the coin is actually stopped-in the position of Fig. '7. and the above-described actions take place from that point. 'In the case of a smooth edged coin, however, the coin tends 'to bounce backfrom the shoulder 5.5... This is indicated in Fig. 12. Thus, the coin .firstfstrikes the shoulder at position A and bounces back slightly to position F. While .the amount of bounce may be slight, position F is nevertheless quite close to the balancepoint W. At F the coin may be considered. to have no momentum; in other words, the stop position of the coin is at F rather than at A. At-F the coin is .so near 'the provided at the corner M and beyond.

The action of discriminating between a smooth and a milled edge is quite sensitive and the device will accept a coin in which only a slight milling is left, even though such coin has been reduced in size and weight .by normal-wear. However, "by the action herein "described, the present invention makes use of the millin to ef feet .a greater discrimination than: can he nae compiished by size and Weight:alone;and =thns diminishes the losses due fto bad coins. 5

In addition to effecting discrimination for size, weight and smoothness, the invention pro-- vides simple and effective means for rejecting s'l'ugs of magnetic material. While such slugs might be rejected because of weight orsmooth ness, the magnetic rejection'dimi'nishes the'p'os sibflity of receiving a'bad coin.- As shown of the machine; The magnet is disposedinariinclined position above the window 26 so that its field can act on a coin rolling down the chute 24. The forces acting on an iron or steel slug are both upward and outward. The upward force tends to lift the coin off the beveled surface of the chute 24, and the outward force tends to pull the slug toward the right, as viewed in Figs. 15 and 16. Accordingly the slug is defiected out through the window 26, from which it falls into any suitable receptacle. Owing to the speed of the coin as it passes under the magnet, the slug is not attracted into actual contact with the magnet, and hence it has no opportunity to block the machine or to Weaken the force of the magnet.

It will be seen that the present invention provides for efiective discrimination between good and bad coins, while still afiording adequate tolerance :for partially worn coins. The device is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is capable of easy adjustment.

I-Iavingthus described the invention, I claim:

1. A coin-controlled unit comprising a pivoted and oounterweighted chute down which a coin rolls, stopping means above the chute to engage the upper portion of a coin and to effect momentary arresting of a milled coin but to cause a smooth coin to bounce back, the chute having a static balance point for a coin slightly in back of the stopping means, whereby the rate of tilt of the chute depends on the relation of the stopping point of a coin to said static balance point, and a member having a corner opposed to the end of the chute, said corner separating acceptance and rejection passages, the corner being in advance of the said stopping means.

2. A coin-controlled unit comprising a pivoted and counterweighted chute down which a coin rolls, shoulder above the chute to engage the upper portion of a coin and to efiect momentary arresting of a milled coin but to cause a smooth coin to bounce back, the chute having a static balance point for a coin slightly in back or" the shoulder, whereby the rate of tilt of the chute depends on the relation of the stopping point of a coin to said static balance point, and a member having a corner opposed to the end of the chute, said corner separating acceptance and rejection passages, the corner being in ad- Vance of the said shoulder.

CLARENCE M. FROST.

REFERENQES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 559,534 Lohsand May 5, 1896 620,527 Wright Feb. 28, 1899 1,261,121 Grover Apr. 2, 1918 2,349,214 Vieth May 16, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 28,783 Denmark Aug. 15, 1919 354,710 Great Britain Aug. 10, 1931 

